I'm A Horrible Blogger...

 Yeah, I'm more than a little behind.  And for the past year I've been awful about blogging.  But here is a valiant effort to catch up.  The boys both played rec league ball.  Snug's last year for t-ball, LMM's last year for B-ball.

 Snug improved quite a bit.  We didn't know whether to move him up into coach pitch or not.  Grade wise he should have been coach pitch, but age wise t-ball.  We stuck with his age and he had a good season.

 It was easier to enjoy LMM's season NOT being his coaches.  #1 helped QUITE A BIT as, well, LMM is a bit squirrel-y.  He's always having a good time.

 Last day of preschool for LMM meant not long till Rosebud gets to start preschool...and she is EXCITED about that.  These "turtles" as she calls them get a hug EVER.  SINGLE. TIME. from her on the way in.  I don't think they're turtles, I think they're weird little people things.

 

 See you in a few weeks!

 This is LMM and LMM's apprentice.  She goes where he goes, talks how he talks, and acts how he acts.  But they're good buddies.

 Strawberry picking!  He must have gotten a rotten one :o)

 Now THAT is a good daddy.  She was very happy to ride on his back and eat strawberries!

 We picked three large buckets and I made about half a years worth of jam.  The other half will be red raspberry that we'll pick in the late summer early fall.

 The place we pick is very nice and lets the kids eat all they can and carry out all they can in their hands for free.  I think each kid probably ate a quart.

 A little boy I babysit for has Juveniele Diabetes.  We were able to go to a mini-golf benefit for him one morning.  Very fun!

 Rosebud could barely hit the ball.  Then she's pick it up, set it next to the hole and either "putt" or kick it in.  Perfect.

 Snug was the only one playing with any semblance of rules.

 The kids got their faces painted and then we headed over to see the goats (the event was at a local dairy).

 #1 and my dad are making a new bedroom in our basement.  Here are the before pictures.  If I am not as horrible as a blogger as I have been, I'll keep you updated.  Don't cross your fingers!

 I've wanted to get a little playhouse for the girls for a couple of years but they are SO EXPENSIVE.  I sold off some of the kids things they were not using anymore and was able to get this one pretty cheap on Craiglist. My plan was to power wash it and then spray paint it the color I wanted-something I had seen on my beloved Pinterest.  This little house was FILTHY.

 Here's a picture of it from the back.  It had dirt and crud in every crevice.

 It cleaned up so well, and Rosebud LOVES pink and purple, so I didn't paint it.

 Everyone has been playing with it, but Sweet Pea loves to open the door and squeal, then close it and say "buh bye".

  We're getting ready to head to camp and this hair was getting OUT of control.  It snarls easily and although she loves to have it braided and curled, she doesn't want to sit to have it brushed.

 So I bit the bullet and took her in for a haircut.  A friend from church cut it which was nice.  She's the second oldest of 10 kids so she knew how to deal with a wiggly little one :o)

I like how it turned out, and it is VERY easy to wash and brush now!

Sometime this week it is my goal to post LMM's 5th birthday party pictures.  AKA I'll post them in August.

Just Another Tuesday? Never!

#1 asked me the other day where the baby was going to sleep.  Probably after I told him we probably will be meeting baby in about 9 weeks.  

I had given it some thought, but not much.  I guess I hadn't gotten past the first 2-3 weeks where baby will sleep in a pack n play or a co-sleeper in our bed.  Past that...not much.

The plan, originally, was that when baby was a few weeks old he/she would get the crib and Rosebud would move into my old daybed that is up in her room.  I even got a side rail for $1 at a garage sale in the early spring.  Well, what I didn't know is just how small Rosebud would stay.  When she is up on the daybed it all but swallows her up.

I've had another crib offered to us, but I really don't want it.  I don't want more big furniture and I don't want two cribs that can't be sold or donated (both have side rails that move) on my hands in a few months.  We don't even have room for another full size crib.  

I didn't want to have to take down the daybed and trundle either as it is very difficult to disassemble and really, I don't feel like storing it...again.  But that may still happen, we'll see.

Anyway, I got online and started looking at small toddler beds. I found a few I liked.  I liked one from IKEA, but simply refuse to pay what they want for it.  I found one on Wal-Mart.com that I also liked, but still, more than I wanted to pay.  So of course, I turned to Craigslist.  

I found a pink bed that I liked, and called the number listed.  The girl assured me she still had the bed and would meet me at their house today at 10:00am.  They have some sort of family emergency and as of this very moment are supposed to be driving to Arizona, never to return again.  I told her I wanted to see the bed first, and she said that was fine.

So this morning #1 and I headed out to see the bed.  The address ended up being at a house(?) that had a sign(?) on the side saying it was an automotive shop office.  The automotive shop was next door, but didn't look to be in business.  House/sign/shop were not promising looking.  

We drove up and the front door was either open or missing, couldn't decide, and in its place was a broken baby gate shimmied to stand up and keep two small children from falling outside.  I'll let you use your imagination on how the entire scene looked from there.  

I could tell #1's cop-dar was going off full steam.  He wasn't pleased to be at the location.  About thirty seconds after we pulled up and were assessing the situation another mini van pulled up next to us.  A lady and little girl got out, and #1 asked her if she was the one selling the toddler bed.  She looked very confused and said she was there to buy the toddler bed.  I was also pretty sure she wasn't the one selling it as from her appearance she did not fit into the situation at all.

Hmmmm.  So both of us are there for the same bed.  At the same time (which we had BOTH confirmed with the seller) Nice.  I believe she even said to me "well, this is awkward".  It was.

So the woman selling the bed came to the "door" and asked us to come in.  I was hoping not to have to go in.  And then was even more dismayed when we had to walk to the back of the house and into a back bedroom. I was glad for my husband at my side and the other random woman/child combo.  At this point I was pretty sure I was not going to want to buy anything that had been in this household and trying to think of a gracious way to back out.  

But when we saw the bed, it was exactly what we wanted, and in decent shape (we learned it had only been bought 2 months ago...any longer and more than one thing would have had to be screwed back on...just a minor repair).  But I could tell it was exactly what the other lady wanted too.  

She told me that I could have it because I had arrived first.  But her daughter was twice the size of Rosebud, and clearly in need of a toddler bed before we were so I told her that I had time to keep looking as I didn't need it till Dec/January.  She looked at me kinda funny and said "Really?  I only need it till November!  Where do you live?"  Well we exchanged info (live within like 3 miles of each other) and in November when she gets her old daybed from her parents (funny, huh?) she has no need for the toddler bed.  So in November we'll get the bed and we don't have to store it!  Plus, I'm pretty sure from her immaculate-not-even-a-cheerio-on-the-floor-van that it will be well cleaned up.  

This is the bed.  Neither of us wanted the mattress.  But we both get to use the bed!

Tuesdays are always so interesting!

Affordable Kid's Clothes

I thought this week's prompt: Affordable Kid's Clothes was interesting for Mama Guilt Monday...because I am a 90% hand-me-down, thrift store, garage sale mama. And I feel no guilt :o) But I can write about it anyway! Click on the logo above to read other mom's feelings on the subject!

This is Snug at a wedding #1 was in back in October. 100% hand-me-downs, right down to his underoos. Yep, we use hand-me-down underwear. I don't see how once it is washed it is much different than a shirt.

Both Snug and Little Monkey Man (pictured here) wore this their second Halloween. I bought it for $1.49 at Goodwill. The shoes are from Once Upon A Child.

Our outdoor summer play clothes are almost all from garage sales or friends who have given us hand-me-downs!

Garage sale! (The BabyLegs I did buy new) Even our diapers are probably 50% from Craigslist.

Our Easter/Christmas outfits are almost always 100% from two families who generously hand things down to us. I am so grateful to them for all the things they have shared. We have two families that we now give bags of clothes to, and when we find out that Hannah is for sure a girl, I have so many more things to hand down, sell, donate.

Do I like to buy my boys clothes at "real" stores? You bet! I have a particular soft spot for Children's Place and Gymboree. However, I probably spend $50 a year in retail stores on their clothes/shoes combined. I spent $6.75 just this past weekend on a tie (Wal-Mart) for Snug (#1 is in another upcoming wedding) and shoes (Goodwill) for Little Monkey. Let me tell you about the shoes...they are "Lightning McQueen", a big favorite around here, and they light up. I don't think they had ever been worn before. I could have spent $12-$15 on similar shoes new, but why? They were bought to be play shoes!

So nope, I have NO guilt about how I dress my kids. They always look nice, and really they probably dress better in other people's recycled things than if I went to the store and bought them myself...because I can't afford the name brands that they wear daily!!!!